You lost this one, Osama
For probably the first time since we invaded Iraq, the U.S. can claim a victory in the war against terror. Zacharias Moussaoui said "America, you lost. I won," but that shows just how crazy he is. The citizens of the United States, as represented by 12 people in an Alexandria, Virginia jury, actually won a big one today when Moussaoui got life instead of death.
Because, let's face it, the government was trying the latest version of their color coded "We're actually doing something effective" bullshit by trying to kill someone who hadn't actually succeeded in doing anything except being a schizophrenic wannabe. The government's case boiled down to: "This guy should die because he refused to admit he was guilty under interrogation."
In case you need a reminder, this is the relevant cause from the Bill of Rights' Fifth Amendment: "No person shall be ... compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." Gonzales must have missed the day they taught that in law school. Sort of like he missed the "no torture" day.
As long as we're on the topic of terrorists' trials, have you ever asked yourself why we haven't brought the guys we have in custody in secret prisons in Europe and Guantanamo to trial? Do you suppose it's because we have tortured them? Do you think that the government doesn't want to take the chance that 12 regular moral Americans might not like that?
I'm going to continue to have faith in the American people as long as we can continue to get Moussaoui-like results. And I'm going to continue to have no faith in those in our government who would, if unchecked, turn us into the same sort of murdering thugs that attacked us on 9/11.
